Dishwasher rack



y 6,1969 R. D. JAFFEE ET AL 3,442,397

DISHWASHER RACK Original Filed May 10, 1966 Y Sheet of 2 [2 ROBERT D wxF'l 10d F164 IRVING L. MARK DARRELL L. DOWNER W m W 7 ATTORNEYS May 6,1969 R. o. JAFFEE ET AL DISHWASHER RACK Original Filed May 10, 1966Sheetiof-Z F IGZ l8 I6 20 I uni N. W. 35 E I? z 28 29 29 12 INVENTORSROBERT D. JAFFEE FIG?) mvme 1.. MARK DARRELL DOWNER BY ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,442,397 DISHWASHER RACK Robert D. Jatfee, Skokie,Irving L. Mark, Chicago, and Darrell L. Downer, Park Ridge, Ill.,assignors to Amco Wire Products Corp., Chicago, 11]., a corporation ofIllinois Continuation of application Ser. No. 548,928, May 10, 1966.This application June 4, 1968, Ser. No. 740,781 Int. Cl. A47] 15/50 US.Cl. 211--71 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A dishwasher rack for cupsor glasses includes compartments for individual vessels with a supportextending at least partially across the compartment adjacent its bottomto support the vessel in an inverted and tilted position. Preferably,opposing portions of the lip of the inverted vessel are supported sothat it will rock back and forth in response to the washing spray.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 548,928, filed May 10,1966, now abandoned.

Restaurants and other quantity users of eating utensils commonly havedishwashers with a powered drive to transport racks of dishes through adishwashing machine. The items in the rack are subjected to a spray ofwashing and rinsing liquids and are then stacked for drying by retainedheat. Such racks are often designed to carry only particular utensils,in order to permit proper washing of a reasonable number of itemswithout undue danger of breakage.

Items such as cups and glasses are generally inverted in a rack so thatthey can be washed in a stable position and so that they will not retainwashing liquid within them. However, the outside bottoms of cups andglasses are often somewhat dish-shaped, forming what is called a well,so that washing liquids could be retained therein to later run onto partof the vessel where it may be tasted by a user. Such a residue can alsocarry bacteria, or the like, to a user of the utensil. This difficultyis accentuated in the case of plastic racks which do not hold the dryingheat as well as metal racks so that there is greater likelihood ofliquid retention, due to poorer evaporation in the well of a vessel whenit is out of the washer and ready for storage. Liquid retained in thewells can, of course, be spilled during handling to undesirably dampensurroundings.

Cups or glasses placed in a rack in a regular pattern, particularlythose in which the rims or lips of the vessels are in a horizontalposition, will generally cause the spray within the washing machine todeflect in a relatively uniform pattern and outwardly away from theitems to be washed. This can decrease effectiveness of the washing andrinsing liquids and may also cause considerable loss of the washingliquid which can carry over to the rinse section of the machine. Loss ofwashing liquid to the rinse compartment may also be sensed in some typesof machines to operate automatic soap dispensing equipment resulting inan increase in soap consumption.

An object hereof is to improve the efiectiveness of washing and rinsingspray cups or glasses in a rack within a dishwasher.

Another object is to reduce or eliminate retention of liquid in thewells of vessels in a dishwashing rack, especially a rack constructed ofplastic.

In a particular form the invention comprises a rack having a base withopen grill work and upstanding sides with partitions extending betweenopposite sides to define compartments each for receiving a single cup orglass. There is further means extending into the compartments PatentedMay 6, 1969 and engageable with the lip of a cup or glass to support itin tilted position with respect to the base. In this way, there isreduced tendency for retaining liquid in the well of a cup or glass, andfurthermore the vessels, in random positions, tend to move or rock asthey are struck by the spray from the washing machine so that the sprayis better dispersed about the items to be washed. In the case of a cuprack, a fin-like member may project from one corner of a cup compartmentand part Way across the diagonal to engage and support one side of thelip of the cup so that it is held at a suitable angle. In the case of arack for washing glass Stemware, or the like, a rodlike member mayextend across the bottom of each glass compartment. This member ispositioned somewhat off center Within the compartment so that anyinverted glass resting thereon is at an angle with respect to the rack.

In the drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cup rack with a numberof cups positioned therein;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cup rack of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the cup rack of FIG. 2 with a partbroken away along the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view like that of FIG. 3 but of a rack modified to be usedfor glasses, or the like; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective representation of a portion of a glass rack ofFIG. 4.

In FIG. 1 the rack or tray 10 for holding cups or other similar vesselsincludes a rack base 12 and a separable upper riser or frame 14 whichextends around the periphery of the base 12 and provides upstandingsides on the base. The partitions 16 extend between two opposing sides14 and the partitions 18 extend between the two remaining sides in orderto define a number of compartments each of which is for receiving one ofthe cups 20. The rack 10 may be formed of suitably molded plastic forlightweight and durability with the parts bolted together. Openings 22in the opposite sides of the riser 14 form handles to facilitatecarrying by the user. Two corners of the base 12 have a color codedidentification strip 24 so that if a number of the racks 10 are stacked,the ones having certain partitioning within them, and therefore beinguseful with particular types of utensils, can be identified withoutbreaking the stack.

The sixteen rectangular cup receiving compartments defined by thepartitions 16 and 18 are clearly visible in the plan view FIG. 2. Thepartitions 16 and 18 extend upwardly from the base 12 are integral withframe 14. These partitions extend upward somewhat short of the upper rimof the sides 14. An also seen in FIG. 2 the base 12 includes an opengrill work within the entire region defined by the sides 14. This grillwork is composed of perpendicular struts 28 and diagonal members 29 toform a bottom for supporting the vessels to be washed, but at the sametime to permit the passage of washing and rinsing liquids and drying airup through the bottom.

Base 12 also has a series of index strips 32 adjacent each of a pair ofthe sides and also centrally of the base so that the rack may be engagedby the power driven mechanism of a dishwashing machine to move itthrough the machine. As seen FIG. 3 the riser frame 14 fits on the base12 since the lower periphery of the frame 14 is grooved and the upperperiphery of the base 12 is reduced in cross section at 35. Suitablefasteners 38 (FIG. 2) secure the rack parts 12 and 14 together.

Each of the cup compartments formed by intersecting partitions 16 and 18and/or the riser sides 14 includes a fin-like projection 40 extendingfrom the corner of the partition and about half the diagonal distancethereacross. The fins 40 extend upwardly from the base 12 by a distancesomewhat less than the height of the partitions 16 and 18. As best seenin FIG. 2 the fins 40 are preferably formed at the junction ofpartitions 16 and 18 such that they extend in opposite directions from apartition intersection to extend into four different cup compartments.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, cups 20 are individually positioned in acompartment defined by the partitions 16 and 18 and one location of thelip of the cup rests on the top of the tilt fin 40 while the oppositeportion of the lip of the cup rests on the grill work of the base 12. Inthis position the cup will be washed by spray coming up through thebottom of the tray as well as spray coming down from the top.Furthermore the well, or dish-shaped bottom, 20a (FG. 1) of a cup willbe tilted with respect to the base 12 so that it will not retain liquid,of any substantial amount, when the tray of cups passes beyond thespraying compartment of a dishwashing machine. It should also be notedthat cups 20 are supported at two limited areas on their lips so thatforce of the spray in a washing machine will tend to rock the cupssomewhat within their individual compartments and thus cause the spraydeflected from them to disperse in a varying pattern to promote betterwashing and rinsing. The random positions of the cups and the rockingaction varies the wash and rinse sprays in a changing pattern forgreatly improved washing effectiveness and economy.

Cups of the type carried in the rack 10 generally have handles. Asevident in FIG. 1, the cups can be placed in the rack in an invertedposition with the handles oriented in any direction. As the tray istransported, the handles will naturally tend to orient themselves towarda corner of the compartment, and there is no need for the rack user togive his attention to any particular orientation of the handles as he isloading the tray.

A modified form of the rack shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is for washingvessels such as a glass 50 or a sherbet glass 52. The reck 100 includespartitions 16a and 18a extending between the sides 14 to define a numberof compartments for individual glasses. Since a glass may often be ofconsiderable heighth compared to cups it may be desirable to extend thepartitions 16a and 18a upwardly from the base farther than normal sothat two riser and partition sets (14, 18a, 16a) can be fastened in amated relation atop the base.

A rod-like member 60 extends across each compartment and somewhat oifcenter thereof, at the level of the top of the base 12 of the rack a.The member 60 engages the lip of a glass to tilt the vessel somewhat andreduce the retention of liquid in the well thereof. Member 60 ispreferably positioned so that the glass 50 may tend to rock back andforth as it is sprayed, thereby promoting better dispersing of the spraywithin the washing compartment. It may be seen that the member 60 willengage the lip of the glass at two points and that the glass will befurther supported by the base at an opposite point of its rim.

With the described construction of a dishwashing rack it is thereforepossible to improve washing and rinsing action due to slight movement ofthe cups, glasses, or other vessels washed in the tray. Furthermorepossible retention of washing liquid in the wells of the items beinghandled is reduced due to the fact that these are supported at an anglewith respect to the base. This is a particular advantage in the case ofa plastic rack since, as has been pointed out previously, the heatrention of such racks is less than that of other racks, for examplethose made of metal which hold heat and accelerate evaporation, andtherefore the drying of the liquid in the wells is less likely to takeplace with plastic racks. Liquid retained in the well is, of course,undesirable since the vessels will be wet to handle or washing liquidmay be deposited where it can be tasted or found to be unsanitary uponuse of the vessel. Furthermore it can be seen that the described rackprovides individual compartments for the cups or glasses therebyminimizing breakage, but yet the rack can be loaded in an expedientmanner since it is unnecessary to orient the items in a particular wayto be washed.

We claim:

1. A rack for carrying vessels such as cups and glasses in a dishwashingmachine to pass both through a washing spray and a drying cycle whilesaid rack is loaded, including in combination, a base for said rack ofopen grill-like form to pass washing liquids therethrough, fourupstanding sides on said base to define a five-sided rack therewith,said rack further having partitions extending between both of theopposing pairs of said sides to define compartments each for receiving asingle vessel, and an elongated support member extending along the topof said base and inwardly of said partitions defining said compartments,said support member extending in spaced relation from all of saidpartitions along the length of said support member so that said base isexposed on opposite sides thereof, said support member positioned onsaid base and extending upwardly therefrom thereby to be engageable withthe lower edge of a vessel therein with such edge supported both on saidsupport member and on the top of said base for retaining such vessel inan inverted and tilted position with respect to said base.

2. The rack of claim 1 in which said support member is a rod-like memberpositioned across and integral with the bottoms of said compartments toengage two portions of the edge of a vessel, and a substantiallyopposite portion of the edge of such vessel contacting said base of saidrack.

3. The rack of claim 1 in which said support member is a fin-like memberin each of said compartments, said finlike member extending outwardlyfrom said partitions defining each compartment and extending across aportion of each of said compartments at a height upwardly from said baseto engage one portion of the edge of an inverted vessel so that anopposite portion of such edge may rest upon the base and the vessel maytilt from side to side in response to the force of a washing spray.

4. The rack of claim 3 in which said compartments are rectangular andsaid fin-like member extends from one corner of each compartment anddiagonally across a portion thereof.

5. The rack of claim 1 in which said support member extends diagonallyacross at least a portion of said compartments and is integral with thebottoms thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,439,823 12/ 1922 Kaufman 134-57XR 1,714,629 5/1929 Rodin. 1,833,949 12/1931 Lion 217-69 2,082,0046/1937 Hull 134-58 X 2,155,868 4/ 1939 Pauly 134-57 2,342,742 2/1944Loeb 134-58 X 2,378,628 6/1945 Gray 22021 2,691,986 10/1954 Kirby 211-41X 3,200,988 8/ 1965 Chelbor 220-21 X 3,217,890 11/1965 Maslow 211-413,245,548 4/1966 Kesilman 211-41 X 3,306,463 2/1967 Maslow 211-41 XRFOREIGN PATENTS 639,518 4/1962 Canada. 123,186 11/1948 Sweden.

110,074 5/1925 Switzerland.

CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner.

